Frag Out! Magazine

single bidder is involved in the ne- gotiation. The bidder knows he has a product that the customer intends to select, and that he can set the procu- rement conditions. There are many more questions, re- garding other aircraft. 96 Apache gunships is a huge number and begs the question of lifecycle cost, procu- rement cost, and training. No public release was made, on the reason why it was decided to ask for three times the original number when it comes to the attack helicopter platform. The only hint here is the intent declared back in 2017, when the Strategic De- fence Review results were presented, to shift the priority within the scope of procuring the rotary-wing assets, from multi-role, to attack helicopters. One shall however remember that those declarations were quite general in nature (at least at the public level), and formulated before the Russian Forces have shown their true capa- bility (or lack thereof). Furthermore, the war in Ukraine has really shown that the attack helicopters remain one of the crucial elements of the strike system. Apart from that, Poland has undertaken the effort to create a land- -based anti-tank component, reinforce rocket artillery assets, and procure a myriad of unmanned systems. Even if procurement that significant is dictated and justified by the future battlespace requirements, 96 heli- copters is a number that means that at least 192 people would need to be trained to fly them, not to mention the ground crews. It is impossible to move personnel from the 25th Air Cavalry Brigade to the Apache units since the Brigade is expected to receive diffe- rent, new helicopters. The assignment of helicopters to the individual units also leads to numerous questions, as there is very little information availa- ble here. The initial plan: procurement of 32 helicopters; made it almost certain that they would be evenly divided be- tween two air bases: 49th and 56th – replacing the Mi-24 Hinds. This wo- uld result in a 1:1 replacement and a major increase in the available firepo- wer. However, the matter is not that clear, when procurement of a greater number of helicopters comes into play. The matter becomes even more convoluted, with official statements (also made by the head of the MoD) suggesting that the 18th Division would receive the Apache gunships. This could mean that as the new US helicopters are procured, how they are embedded in the structure of the units would also be copied from the US. The US divisions have aviation brigades of their own. Each brigade (operational level) includes as many as two bat- talions, one assault, and one assaul- t-recon battalion. Each of those bat- talions operates 24 AH-64 gunships. However, the American structure also includes other helicopters and UAVs as well. It is thus possible that the 18th Division would include an orga- nic aviation component of its own, and that would be a novelty. Up until now, the mechanized or armored divi- sions had no helicopter assets of their own. They just had squadrons, tempo- rarily, assigned to them. Furthermore, the fact that 96 Apaches are mentio- ned also led to speculation that given the plan made by the Polish Ministry of Defence to expand the land forces to 6 Divisions, one division would be assigned a single squadron of 16 air- craft. Of course, establishing a division-level air component as such is possible. This, however, begs the question: will it be an attack helicopter squadron/ battalion, or is it planned to form fur- ther elements, and a division-level aviation regiment, or even brigade would be formed? Even if we are spe- aking of a single element, it would still need a home base. If we consider the Eastern Flank here, and the area where the 18th Division is based, an existing base would need to be used (Minsk Mazowiecki AB?), or a new base would need to be established from scratch. Either way, that would translate into extra expenditure. If the 18th Division has helicopters of its own, what about the remaining divisions and the 1st Army Aviation Brigade? During the press conference held on 5th May, the Head of the Mi- nistry of Defence made a statement, suggesting the new helicopters would be received by the 18th Mechanized Division, 1st Army Aviation Brigade. That could mean that those two units would receive the Apache gunships, or that a new element would be esta- blished in the 1st Brigade, expected to work with the 18th Division. Unfortu- nately, because the forces stationed in the East are currently given the priori- ty, we may be dealing with a specific duality here: the 18th Division (and maybe the remaining ones stationed in the east) will get rotary-winged as- sets of their own, while squadrons would exist in the 1st Aviation Briga- de (able to support other divisions), including the 11th Armoured Cavalry Division, and the 12th Mechanized Division. If a scenario as such beco- mes reality, the latter two units will have no aviation assets of their own. If it turns out that Poland, instead of AVIATION

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